Insanity Program Detailed Results – First Week (Day 7)

Well, I have finished my first week of Insanity. If you missed my first installment of in-depth Insanity reviews, check it out.

Technically, today is my “off day,” but I skipped yesterday’s workout (birthday party!) so I just did yesterday’s workout today. The first week went great workout-wise, but I buried myself alive in food, both because of my birthday and because intense exercise tends to make me automatically eat way more. That effect tapered off after the first two or so weeks the last time I tried Insanity, so I am expecting the same pattern this time. That is perfectly fine with me. Last time I had awesome cardio and endurance results even after two weeks, which made me feel fantastic even if I was eating enough for two grown men (and gained some weight at first, which I see is happening again). The problem previously, I believe, is that right after I got past the initial weight-gain hump that always happens when I start a new exercise program, I got sick and had to quit. Hopefully this time I’ll be able to stick with it all the way through.

Day 7

Weight: 184.4

BMI: 26.46 (Overweight)

Body Fat Percentage: I figure this probably hasn’t changed much in just a week, so I will update this at the halfway point and then again when I finish the program.

Mental Status: As always, I am frustrated with myself because I work out so hard and then keep stuffing food in my mouth and sabotaging everything I just did. Like I said above, though, last time I was able to get that under control after the first couple of weeks, so I am waiting for that… The rest of me feels awesome that I have finished the first week. I’m looking forward to getting farther and making some progress.

Workouts: The first week consists of the Fit Test, Plyometric Cardio Circuit, Cardio Power and Resistance, Cardio Recovery, Pure Cardio, Plyometric Cardio Circuit again, and then a day off.

The Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout sets the pace for the rest of the first month. Almost every video has the same basic format – Warmup, then do the warmup again faster, then do it again super fast. Rest for 30 seconds. Stretch. Do the first circuit (four exercises back to back at 30 seconds each, with a 30 second rest period afterward), then do it again faster, then do it a third time even faster, like the warmup. And then do the same thing again for a second, different circuit. At the end of the final iteration of each circuit, he throws some extra stuff at you to really make sure you are finishing hard. And then, congratulations! If you made it to the cooldown, you survived.

The exceptions to this rule for the first week are the Cardio Recovery and Pure Cardio videos. Cardio Recovery is placed in the middle of the week to give your body a day off from all the bouncing, jumping, and gasping. It’s still a tough workout, but it is paced slowly and the emphasis is on strength and balance (a lot of lunges and squats) rather than speed and cardio. The Pure Cardio video is pretty much the exact opposite. Instead of performing four exercises for 30 seconds each and then resting for 30 seconds, you perform a whole load of exercises for one minute each, with no rest periods at all after the stretching is finished.

Despite this, I actually find the Pure Cardio video a smidgen easier than the others because I don’t lose momentum during the rest periods. Plus, since the moves are done for one minute instead of 30 seconds, I usually take them slower toward the end because I find it hard to keep up the whole time. I suspect that if I tried to do the entire thing without slowing down it would be a different story. I felt guilty about this at first, but then I noticed that even the people in the video slow down and take breaks when they need to, they just walk out from in front of the camera to do it.

The workouts are very easy to follow and well put together, with the really killer moves mixed between some ever-so-slightly less intense moves. I was honestly a little afraid after watching the previews and the advertisements before actually getting Insanity that I would find Shaun T. incredibly irritating. However, as I am doing the workouts, his constant encouragements and urging to “PUSH! PUSH! DIG DEEPER!” are actually a lot more motivating than they are when I am watching the video sitting comfortably on my bed. I was pleasantly surprised by Shaun T., who very effectively treads the line between motivating the others to work harder and clean up their form and letting them know it’s okay to take a break when they need it. And they DO need it, sometimes, which I find refreshing.

The only problem I have with Insanity so far is the stretches. I was somehow born with super flexibility, so when I follow along to the video I find that I don’t get a very deep stretch. For most people, the simple hamstring stretches and deep lunges probably do the trick just fine, but I have taken to doing my own set of stretches that I feel work my problem areas a little bit more thoroughly.

Overall, I really find Insanity kind of fun. I don’t dread doing it every day like I do other workouts. It’s hard to get started sometimes, especially if I’m tired already, but by the time I’m on the second round of the warmup I’m usually wrapped up in it enough to find my energy and put in my best effort.

Here are the rest of my Insanity week by week results:
Insanity Product Review with link to purchase
Insanity Day 1
Second Week Insanity Results
Third Week Insanity Results
Fourth Week Insanity Results
Fifth Week Insanity Results
Sixth Week Insanity Results
Taking A Break From Insanity
Seventh Week Insanity Results
Final Insanity Results For Weeks 8 And 9

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